Disclaimer: Beast Wars belongs to Hasbro and Mainframe, not
to me.
Too bad, or I wouldn't have to keep shelling out for toys... This
fanfic is
rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America for violence. Set
Second
Season, sometime after "Coming of the Fuzors pt 2" and taking off from
there.
Note- to my limited knowledge of geological history, at this point (3-4
million
years Before Present) the continents are pretty much in the positions
they
occupy now. I could be wrong, but this story is working off that
assumption.

He wandered in the darkness, as all around him flew the
Sparks.
Shining, glimmering Sparks, the seeds of life for all Cybertronians.
They
rocketed past him, intent on some destination that lay beyond him,
something he
couldn't see.

As he watched the beautiful display, words came to him, out
of the
dim and distant past. "When a Spark is extinguished- the universe
weeps."
Despite the gentleness in those words, they filled the wanderer with
fear, and
desperation.

"It's got to be here," he told himself. "I have to find it!"
Suddenly
his gaze was caught by a glimmer in the corner of his eye. Turning, he
found a
familiar Spark hanging nearby, almost wistful as it bobbed up and down.

"At last," the searcher breathed, reaching out gently to the
Spark.
"It's okay now," he continued, assuring both the ball of light and
himself.
"We're going home."

The Spark bobbed again, its colors dimming. Then, with an
almost
subliminal whisper- Good-bye- it rocketed off into the
darkness and
was lost again.

"No... NOO! OPTIMUS!"

* * *

With a start, Cheetor sat bolt upright on his bed,
panting
heavily. For a long second, he remained motionless, letting the
disorientation
that always followed such dreams fade away. It's all right,
he told
himself. Remember? The quantum surge, the Transmetalization- and
Optimus is
back. Rhinox brought him back. You're not going to lose him again.

As Cheetor climbed out of bed and readied for his day, he
tried
fervently to convince himself that his self-assurances were true. The
dream had
been only that, an expression of just how badly losing Optimus had
frightened
him. It had not been one of those true dreams that haunted his sleep
occasionally. He'd had more than enough of those- they always predicted
disaster.

Putting that firmly out of his mind, Cheetor left his
quarters and
headed for the bridge. On the way, he ran into Rattrap, who quickly
moved to
catch up with his taller shipmate.

"Hey, Spots," the rodent saboteur greeted him. "Hey, you
feeling
okay? You woke me out of a sound sleep with all that yelling."

Despite everything, Cheetor couldn't help but smile. Rattrap
was
obviously worried, and fishing in such a way so as not to reveal
himself.
However, despite his stealth abilities, in personal matters Rattrap had
all the
subtlety of a fusion cannon.

"Major bad dream," Cheetor agreed, a glimmer in his eyes.
"You were
in it."

Somewhat reassured by the normality of Cheetor's response,
Rattrap
snorted in mock affront.

Still not quite convinced, Cheetor noted. A wicked
smile
broke out on his face as he prepared to play his next card. "You know,
when you
do that, you kind of sound like Dinobot."

THAT did it. Cheetor walked the rest of the way to the
bridge with
the comforting sound of Rattrap ranting in his ears.

As the two Maximals made their way into the bridge, Optimus
looked up
from the computer, obviously alerted by the sound of bickering. A small
smile
crossed his face as Rattrap, without missing a beat in his tirade,
walked over
to the security console and took Rhinox's station on watch.

"Cheetor. Just the bot I wanted to see. Your new form has a
flight
mode, right?"

"Yeah, Optimus. I'm a jet-powered kitty now." Too bad
it's too
late to have taken that pod. "Why?"

"Scanners have detected a stasis pod down, several hundred
klicks
northwest of here. Silverbolt is already out on patrol, so I thought
you and I
should check it out."

Cheetor nodded. "Roger that. Don't want Megs getting any
more of an
advantage than he's already got. I'll be outside, whenever you're
ready." With
that, Cheetor headed to the lift, descending to the terrain outside.

Exchanging a glance with the other two occupants of the
bridge,
Primal raised an eyebrow. "Now what was that all about?" the Maximal
commander
wondered.

"Have you forgotten that you DIED recently?" Rattrap asked,
looking
up from the console.

Rhinox nodded. "It hit all of us pretty hard, but Cheetor
took it
worse than any of us."

"Hmmm," was Optimus' response. "Hopefully, all he needs is
time. If
not- well, maybe we can get some talking done on this trip. Hold the
fort until
we come back, all right?"

* * *

Meanwhile, the fallen stasis pod rested in the
grass-covered
lands of what would one day be Northern California. This area of the
planet had
been relatively untouched by the planet-buster, but it had its own
problems.
Specifically, drought, which would be plaguing the inhabitants of this
area for
millennia to come. And, as every Californian knows, drought and grass
ultimately lead to one thing-- fire.

What started the conflagration is unimportant. Maybe a
rabbit
startled a piece of rock against a flint outcrop. Maybe a tiny piece of
unstable energon picked that moment to go off. Whatever the reason, a
fire soon
started that was raging though the grasslands when Optimus and Cheetor
arrived.

"WHOA!" the younger Maximal cried, pulling up short as he
saw the
flames. "Tell me the stasis pod is not in there, Big Bot," he pleaded.

Optimus checked his scanners. "Sorry, Cheetor. And
apparently, it's
still online. We'll have to go in and get it, before the flames totally
destroy
the protoform."

"This heat is intense- we'll never be able to just plow
right
through," Cheetor protested. Suddenly his eyes lit up. "Hold that
thought," he
instructed, turning around. With incredible speed, he jetted back to a
river
that the two of them had passed. Quickly, he half-submerged himself,
filling
onboard compartments with the water. Then he rocketed back to Optimus.

The two of them sailed into the heart of the inferno,
Cheetor
dumping
his load bit by bit. It was a good plan, and the two of them almost
made it to
the pod. Unfortunately, there was one thing neither of them had
considered.

Fire makes its own wind.

Halfway to the pod, the gale-force winds rising from the
flames
finally overwhelmed the pair, sending them spiraling out of control.
Optimus
began to plummet towards the fire, while the smaller, lighter Cheetor
was
catapulted out of the burn zone. Cheetor had just a moment to think
NO! Not
again! Then he slammed into the ground and the lights went out.

* * *

In the heart of the fire rested a stasis pod, a
stasis pod
with one very confused computer system. Over the course of the last
stellar
cycle or so, it had been exposed to a great number of stimuli that were
not in
the general memory banks, being ejected from a ship in orbit, shot down
by a
major energy beam, hit by a quantum surge, and then set on fire. Up
until this
point, the pod's systems had coped admirably, but there was only so
much the
computers could be expected to endure. Still, to the credit of the
Cybertronian
engineers who had designed it, the pod did manage to begin scanning for
a DNA
pattern to replicate. Against all odds, it found one. A falcon had
delayed
fleeing the area for some reason, and was now going like a bat out of
Hell,
attempting to flee. When the wall of yellow energy appeared before it,
the
falcon's thoughts, loosely translated, came out as "What NOW?" However,
the
beam passed through without incident, and the falcon decided to make
tracks
before anything weirder happened.

Back on the ground, the pod began the DNA subroutines. About
halfway
through, however, the systems had finally had enough, crashing with an
efficiency that would make Bill Gates jealous. The pod gave a strangled
beep
and then lay still, rocking occasionally from the energy surges caused
by the
circuitry catching on fire.

Optimus Primal knew none of this, however. He was far too
busy
falling, not to mention coming to terms with the fact that he was about
to die
AGAIN, after having only been on-line a few days. I think this is
taking the
namesake thing a bit far, he thought semi-coherently.

Just as it seemed that he was going to crash into the
burning
ground,
something snapped around his wrists, hauling him up. Gratefully,
Optimus looked
up, expecting to see Cheetor. Instead, he beheld a huge fiery bird,
larger than
Airrazor, its wings straining against the air as it attempted to lift
him.
"Hold still!" the bird grunted, looking down at Optimus. "You're too
slagging
heavy for me to really be doing this!"

After a lot of effort, and a few tense moments, the bird-
A
Phoenix, Primal's datatrax supplied- managed to get them out of
the
burning area, setting them down on the other side of a rock formation,
where
Cheetor was just struggling to his feet.

In a quick flipping of parts, the bird transformed into
robot mode,
looking like a more masculine, red-and-orange version of Airrazor. Blue
optics
sparkled in a face that Cheetor found a bit familiar, from- somewhere.

Optimus Primal had never wished for a holocamera more
than
upon seeing Rattrap's face upon their return to the Axalon. "What in
the PIT
happened to you?" the rodent demanded, taking in the soot stains on
both
Cheetor and Optimus, not to mention their new arrival.

He had to admit, Rodimus had an unusual beast form. A
glimmer of
metallic color here and there hinted that his protoform had been
exposed to the
quantum surge, but on the whole, his beast mode was too organic in
appearance
to be a true Transmetal. His feathers were all the colors of a flame,
but were
definitely feathers, rather than a metal hide. And no creature on the
planet
had the DNA to have given him his appearance. His wings actually looked
as if
they were made of flame, shading from red at the front to orange and
finally
yellow on the trailing edge.

"Well, if you all would stop jawing, we could get to that,"
broke in
Rattrap, as he led the group back into the Axalon.

Once inside the ship, Optimus put a hand on Rodimus'
shoulder,
drawing him aside. "Rodimus, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like you to
undergo a
series of scans. Our chief scientist, Rhinox, doubles as our medic, and
he'll
need that information to put you back together again if anything should
happen."

Rodimus nodded. "Not a problem, Optimus. Where should I go?"

"Currently? The holding bay. I'll show you the way down
there- this
ship is a maze if you don't know your way around. Cheetor? Why don't
you get
that oil bath, then open up one of the crew cabins for Rodimus to bunk
down in?
Put him down by you and Rattrap- I can't exactly see him and Dinobot as
neighbors."

"You got it, Big Bot," Cheetor replied, trotting off down
the
corridor. Despite still being in Beast Mode, he moved with a stiffness
quite
unlike his normal feline grace.

Apparently, he was banged up worse that he let on,
Optimus
mused. "I thought he'd grown out of that," he muttered aloud.

"Pardon?" Rodimus asked.

Optimus shook his head. "Never mind. Come on- I'll show you
the
medical bay. As for the rest of the crew- I'm betting their curiosity
will have
you meeting them soon enough."

* * *

"The point of this, before you ask," Rhinox
explained,
connecting wires from his scanning array to the computer, "is to get a
clear
picture of what is 'normal' for you. The systems configurations of
Transmetals
differ wildly from one another, to the point where I can't find ANY
patterning
behind the changes. And you are at least partly Transmetal, so better
safe than
sorry. CR Chambers can't fix everything, and I may wind up putting you
back
together again one of these days. It helps to know what I'm shooting
for."

Rodimus shrugged, leaning against the inside of the scanning
ring.
"No argument here. A lot of my circuits were scrambled in the crash or
the
fire- I'm in the dark on a lot of my abilities. Anything you can tell
me would
be a help."

Rhinox didn't even look up from his work. "Shut up,
Rattrap," the
rhinoceros replied.

As usually happened on the Axalon, any personnel not
actually on
duty
had gravitated to the holding bay to meet the new recruit and make
unhelpful
comments as Rhinox tried to get his machine working. Dinobot was
currently on
sensor watch, and Tigatron and Airrazor were still out on patrol, so it
was
only a small crowd. Not that such things ever bothered Rhinox very
much.

"So tell me," Rattrap continued, folding his arms across his
chest,
"why you wound up with a name like 'Rodimus Primal.'"

"Not my idea, Rattrap," Rodimus replied.

Silverbolt cocked his head. "But- you're a protoform. I was
under the
impression that protoforms routinely selected their own names. Or- was
that
simply because my circuits were damaged?"

"Most protoforms do select their own names," Rodimus
replied. "But
I'm not technically your regular protoform. I came online on Cybertron.
After a
few... incidents, the Elders decided I wanted to get off planet.
Unfortunately,
none of the ships going out had openings in the skeleton crew, so I
wound up
being rendered in proto-stasis and shipped out in a pod. The rest you
know,
probably better than me."

The other Maximals gaped at him. "They melted you down and
stuck you
in a pod?" Rattrap finally managed. "Sheesh, what did you DO?"

"Officially? Nothing, just got some wanderlust.
Unofficially- well,
it's not really safe to hold unpopular opinions on Cybertron right
now." As he
spoke, Rodimus scanned his listeners. Cheetor, Rattrap, and Silverbolt
were
shocked and more than a bit disgusted at what he'd told them, although
Rattrap
seemed to have accepted it better than the other two. Optimus and
Rhinox- they
were surprised and disapproving, but not shocked. They were surprised
at WHY he
was shipped off, but the procedure of putting active robots in stasis
was not
unfamiliar to them. He wondered why that was.

"For the same reason Optimus has his," Cheetor interjected.
"He came
out of the Matrix with a remarkable resemblance, in his case to Rodimus
Prime."

Rodimus was startled- the youngest of the Maximals had said
little
since his arrival. He had a feeling that Cheetor's taciturnity was
unusual, but
decided to let it go until he fit in better. "Exactly," Rodimus
replied,
nodding. "The emissary from the Elders took one look at me and dubbed
me
Rodimus Primal. And there you go."

Optimus and Rodimus, Cheetor thought, his gaze
seeing
little.
Together, on Earth, after years and years. What are the odds? Hmm.
Maybe
there's something to that belief that names have resonance.

Full circle... time is not a straight path, nor a
circle, but a
spiral heading for eternity... at last, time has come around again...
full
circle...

Cheetor raised his hands to his head, struck by a sudden
wave of
dizziness. Primus slag it! Can't these slagging dreams wait until
I'm ASLEEP
to start butting in on my life?

"Cheetor?" Faintly, he could hear Optimus calling him, but
did not
dare look up. Every time he did, the room started spinning.

"Cheetor, I don't think that's a good idea. You hit that
ground
pretty hard. I think you should let Rhinox check you out."

That brought Cheetor's gaze up to meet Optimus'. "Is that an order?"
Cheetor
asked softly, green eyes sparking a little.

"Does it have to be?" Optimus responded in the same tone.
For a long
second, tension crackled between them.

"I. Am. Fine," Cheetor bit out, then turned on his heel and
stalked
away. Behind him, Optimus just watched him leave, a puzzled expression
on his
face.

* * *

It was generally the procedure for vessels of the
Maximal
Star
Command to break in new crew members gently, by placing them on sensor
watch
duty for a while, before sending them out into the field. While Optimus
had
been tossing procedure out the window on a regular basis ever since the
Axalon
had crashed, he had no particular reason to waive it in this case.
Plus, Rhinox
was concerned about lingering effects of the crash and the fire on
Rodimus'
circuits, and wanted him close to home for a few cycles, until they had
a
better idea what to expect. It was for these reasons that Rodimus found
himself
on sensor watch for the evening.

The bridge was practically deserted as Rodimus entered it;
Silverbolt
was out on patrol, as were Tigatron and Airrazor, whom he had yet to
meet.
Optimus was in his quarters reading, and Rattrap had informed the
newest
Maximal that disturbing their leader during such an activity was taking
your
life into your hands. Speaking of Rattrap-- Rodimus winced as another
low boom
echoed through the ship. The rodent was in the hold, "helping" Rhinox
with his
newest project. Rodimus had decided that he really didn't want to know,
and
hadn't asked further. As for Cheetor-- well, no one had seen him since
he
stomped out of Rodimus' "checkup" earlier.

That left only Dinobot, whom Rodimus was currently assigned
to
relive
on watch. Rod knocked on one of the walls as he entered, remembering
what
Optimus had told him about Dinobot. A Predacon warrior was NOT the sort
of
person you wanted to sneak up on, whether he was on your side or not.

Looking up from the console before him, Dinobot gave the
phoenix-bot
a measuring glance. Rodimus returned his stare blandly. He wasn't sure
what
Dinobot was looking for, but he doubted the raptor missed very much.

"By all means, sit," Dinobot rumbled, rising from his place.
"Not the
most... stimulating form of sentry duty, but it does have its merits."

Rodimus grinned. "Yeah. You can see your enemies coming
BEFORE they
kill you. Helps keep the numbers up when they storm the place."
Smoothly, he
slid into the vacated seat and began acquainting himself with the
various
arrays. "Hmm. Long-range, short range, energy signature scanner-- hey,
is that
a poker game?" Rodimus blinked as the graphic came up, and shook his
head.
"Never draw to an inside straight." A flicker of light, and the cards
vanished.

"No doubt the vermin was attempting to divert himself while
on
duty,"
snorted Dinobot.

Silence fell on the bridge for a minute, as Dinobot studied
Rod
intently. "So," he hissed finally, "to what do we owe the honor of your
presence?"

"I shipped out on the wrong exploration mission, and
somebody
finally
found my pod," Rodimus replied flippantly. "Why do you ask?"

"You are... not like any of the other protoforms who have
joined
this
crew. While the other three are competent fighters, they are not
exactly
warriors."

"It's not exactly a warship."

Dinobot snorted. "True enough. Sometimes I... forget that I
am no
longer dealing with Predacon procedure. A Predacon exploratory ship
would have
had a much larger security force." He blinked, then snorted ruefully.
"You
are... quite skilled at redirecting a conversation."

"Guilty as charged," chuckled the phoenix. "I guess it's
kind of a
survival mechanism, you know?"

"Mmm. As I was saying before we got off-track, most
protoform
Maximals are not warriors, truly. You, however, are different."

"What makes you say that?"

"One warrior knows another. It is in the stance, a turn of
phrase.
You are not the type to sign on for a mission like this. What brings
you here?"

"What brings you? According to Optimus, you're a Predacon,
through
and through. What made you throw in your lot with a Maximal exploration
crew?"

"You are changing the subject again."

Rodimus cocked his head. "Am I?"

That brought a snort from the raptor. "It was a matter of
honor. I
doubt you would understand."

"You're probably right," Rod agreed. "Predacon honor never
made
a lot
of sense to me- probably because I'm a Maximal. Of course, most
Predacons I
know were never able to make heads or tails out of the Maximal code
either.
Different cultural bases. Still, maybe you could try and explain?"

"It is perhaps only something a Predacon could understand,"
Dinobot
began slowly. "But I shall try. For three centuries, Predacons have
been an
underclass among Cybertronians. There are limits to how far any
Predacon may
rise in the ranks of any of the major organizations, and most Predacons
are
ambitious. This becomes... frustrating."

"Three centuries? I was under the impression that the worst
of the
restrictions and discrimination came about after Prime' assassination."

Dinobot snorted reflectively. "A black day for all of
Cybertron, no
matter what faction. You are correct, of course; that is when the
strictest
controls were locked down on the Predacon Alliance, and when the rift
between
factions truly began to grow. But Predacons have been unsatisfied with
their
lot since almost the end of the Great War."

"Well, I'm sure some of them felt that the Decepticons
should have
won that war. Still, as the Golden Age went on, there was equality
building.
Then one 'Predacon assassin' brought the whole thing crashing down."

The note of sarcasm in Rodimus' voice caused Dinobot to raise an
eyebrow.
"You do not believe that was the case?"

"Lets just say that it seems awfully convenient that any
'Predacon
threat' was pretty much neutralized by Prime's death. Left the Maximal
Elders
sitting on top of a pretty well-controlled Cybertron, didn't it?"

Dinobot had no response to that.

* * *

"Cheetor, could I see you for a minute?"

The young Maximal paused in the middle of slinking down the
corridor,
an action that only a feline is truly skilled at. Looking over his
shoulder,
the robot cheetah sighed. "Sure thing, Rhinox. What's up?"

The larger 'bot beckoned for Cheetor to enter the ship's
main hold,
something the younger Cybertronian did with some reluctance. Not that
he didn't
like Rhinox's company, or helping out- but the hold had long since
become the
massive Maximal's workshop, and entering it could be hazardous to your
health.
Wheeljack himself would probably feel at home here, Cheetor
mused.
Something's always in one of the stages of blowing up.

"So, what do you need, Rhinox?" Cheetor asked again, taking
care not
to brush anything combustible.

"Those scans we did of Rodimus practically fried the
sensors. I
can't
even get the data this machine collected until it's repaired. I could
use
someone to pass me some tools, and besides, you ought to know some of
this, in
case you ever have to use it. Care to give me a hand?"

Cheetor sighed, but nodded. "Sure thing. Just tell me what
to do."

The two of them had been working in near-silence for a while
when
Rhinox got around to dropping the bomb Cheetor was expecting. "Cheetor-
you've
been kind of quiet the past few days. Is everything all right?"

Rhinox rolled his eyes at the pun, but refused to be
distracted.
"It's just not normal for you, I guess. Kind of like with Rattrap- it's
when he
STOPS talking that you have to start checking for booby-traps on your
recharge
bunk."

"Rhinox!" Cheetor didn't have to work very hard to inject a
note of
indignation into his voice. "Do you really think I'd do something like
that?"

"No, you're too mature for that. In fact, you've grown up a
lot
recently. Sometimes you don't seem like the person you were."

There's a reason for that, Cheetor thought wryly.
I don't
want to be that irresponsible kid. Primus, how many times did I come
close to
getting everyone killed? I'm not going to be the one to put the others
in
danger ever again. Outwardly, he simply shrugged.

"I wouldn't really know about that. But there hasn't been a
lot of
time for kid stuff recently, what with- everything." With Optimus'
death,
he didn't say. He didn't have to.

"Hmm." Taking a screwdriver from his young teammate's hand,
Rhinox
stared at the circuitry before him. "Do you remember when we found
Airrazor's
pod?"

Cheetor rubbed the back of his neck. "Do I ever. How many
times
did I
get walloped that day?"

"You know, if it hadn't been for you, I never would have
been
able to
fix the pod and get Airrazor on line."

Turning, Rhinox suddenly caught the younger Maximal with a
serious
red gaze. "I'm not just talking about the locking chip, although that
certainly
was a lifesaver. If it hadn't been for you, Black Arachnia, Waspinator,
and
Terrorsaur would probably have slagged me, and then been helpless to do
anything as Airrazor's Spark went out. You held off THREE Predacons,
when
Tigatron only managed to take out one. I'd trust you to watch my back
any time,
you know that, right? And I hope you know you can trust me, too."

Trust you? Jeez, Rhinox, of course I trust you! Even
so, he
couldn't tell Rhinox what he was feeling. The plain and simple fact
was, he
hadn't been good enough to be there when Optimus needed him. All he'd
been able
to do was sit back and watch. Nothing Rhinox could say would change
that, and
the last thing Cheetor wanted was to hear his failure confirmed.

Trapped, knowing Rhinox expected a reply, Cheetor opened his
mouth,
having no idea what would come out. Suddenly, he was saved by the
beeping of
his com unit. With an inaudible sigh of relief, he activated the link.
"Cheetor
here. What's up?"

"Cheetor, this is Optimus. I need you to fly another patrol
for me,
out in Grid Turbo. We lost the monitoring stations out there, and with
the
terrain upheavals, I'd rather not send a ground unit. You feel up to
it?"

Optimus Primal shook his head, grinning at the tone in
Rodimus'
voice. "No, I'm serious. The virus infected the data stations of the
entire
barracks. For a week, when you logged on to get your class assignments,
you ran
the risk of having your color scheme reformatted, usually to something
incredibly embarrassing. I kept turning pink."

Rhinox entered the bridge just in time to hear that last
statement.
"OPTIMUS! You're not telling him THAT old story, are you?"

"Why not? It was probably the most inspired prank anybody
ever
played
during our time at the Academy." The leader of the Maximals flashed his
friend
a grin. "They never did find out who programmed it."

Watching the two of them, Rodimus snickered to himself. If
he didn't
know better, he'd swear Rhinox looked embarrassed. "Boy, the worst I
ever did
was weld this one professor's furniture to the ceiling while he was out
doing
fieldwork. Unfortunately, he came back with a bat for a beast mode, and
never
even blinked."

"Ah, college," Rhinox smiled. Then his amusement faded.
"Optimus, I
need to talk to you for a moment. I assume you're not busy?"

"Not at all. Rodimus-"

The phoenix-bot raised his hands. "Don't worry, I can take a
hint.
I'll just go see if Rattrap and Dinobot have scrapped each other yet."

Once he was gone, Optimus turned to Rhinox, one eyebrow
raised. "All
right, Rhinox, what's the matter?"

"I don't think I have to ask if you've noticed Cheetor's
behavior
recently."

"You mean ignoring injury, driving himself to exhaustion,
and
generally indulging in behaviors I thought he'd grown out of?"

"Not to mention barely stringing two sentences together at a
time,
yeah. Something's obviously bothering him, Optimus. Do you really think
it's a
good idea to keep sending him out on patrols all the time?"

With a sigh, Optimus turned to lean against one of the
consoles,
gazing into the blank screen above it as if searching for answers.
"Honestly,
old friend? I'm not sure. All I know is that I really can't do anything
else.
We may not have to chase down stasis pods anymore, but fliers are still
a
tactical advantage, especially for recon. And with Tigatron and
Airrazor still
out on their patrol, we need all the fliers we can get. You know that,
I know
that, and more importantly, Cheetor knows that. If I stopped sending
him out,
he'd know something was up, and right now, I don't really want to upset
him
even more. I don't suppose he's said anything to you?"

Rhinox shook his head. "I tried getting him to open up, but
he
pretty
much shut me down. Rattrap's having the same results, and you know how
well he
usually gets through to Cheetor."

"Then we just have to wait, and hope we can find out what's
going on,
before it turns around and makes our lives miserable."

"Hmph," snorted Rhinox. "That kind of luck we haven't been
getting."

"I know, Rhinox. I know."

"Summit meeting over?" Rodimus asked, poking his head back
into the
bridge. Optimus looked up from the readout he'd been scrutinizing and
smiled.

"Yes. Actually, I was just about to call you. Rhinox managed
to get
the data on you out of the analyzer and he brought it up. I figured you
should
probably be briefed on it."

Rodimus grinned. "Yeah, I haven't been able to do too much
with
experimentation, considering that I don't have anything to start from."
He came
fully onto the bridge, casting the computer a dubious glance as he did
so.
"That thing's not going to blow up, is it?"

"No," Optimus chuckled. "Most of Rhinox's inventions only
combust
because he has to jury-rig them together. This computer is pretty much
still
Cybertronian standard."

"So was my pod," Rodimus pointed out, still keeping a
healthy
distance from the machine. "I think computers just don't like me."

Optimus shook his head, but said nothing. Instead, he simply
punched
a few keys, displaying the data on the screen. "There you go," he
gestured.
"According to Rhinox's notes, your physiology is similar to
Silverbolt's-
you're physically a Transmetal, but your Beast Mode is unusually
organic. No
vehicle mode- I'd imagine the energy surges from the flames caused most
of the
changes. Nanites are designed to adapt to any situation they find
themselves
in. That plus a DNA scan of some type of hawk resulted in your current
Beast
Mode."

"Come on, Optimus. I'm not blind or stupid, and I'd have to
be both
to miss that you guys are worried about Cheetor. I don't even KNOW the
kid, and
I can tell that something's wrong. You asked me to leave the bridge;
therefore
Rhinox had brought you an internal problem. As far as I can tell, the
only
thing currently wrong around here has something to do with Cheetor. So,
what's
going on? Maybe I can help."

"Sure. Carrying on the tradition and all that. I imagine it
wasn't
easy on anybody around here, including you."

"I had the easy part. A few seconds of abject terror, then-"
He
shook
his head as if he were a dog shedding water. "Well, that doesn't
matter.
Everybody else seems to be handling things, but Cheetor... It isn't
exactly
depression- they trained us to recognize that in Star Command. I'm not
sure
WHAT'S bothering him, and he won't talk to anybody.

"Sometimes I wish I'd never brought him along on this trip.
If I
hadn't, he'd be back on Cybertron right now, starting classes at the
Academy,
playing that insane grav-ball game with his friends- he'd be SAFE.
Instead,
we're stranded in our past with a bunch of rogue Predacons devoting
large
portions of their time to turning us into slag."

Rodimus chanced moving closer to the computer to lay a hand
on his
leader's shoulder. "Yeah, but Optimus- he wouldn't have had YOU. Like I
said,
I'm not blind. Anybody can see how much that kid cares about you. Being
with
you- that means more to him than his safety ever could. Besides, this
was
supposed to be an exploratory mission. A 'milk run,' to use an Old
Earth
expression. How could you have known that the Council was going to send
you
chasing after Megs and company?"

"I know all that, Rodimus... I just have a little trouble
accepting
it." But Optimus managed to smile at the other Maximal anyway. "Thank
you,
though."

"No problem." Suddenly the console Optimus was sitting at
gave a
strangled beep. The screen blanked, and a thread of smoke sifted
upwards.

"What the-" Optimus' eyes widened. "It ate the data!"

Rodimus backed away, hands held high. "I TOLD you!"

"Slag."

The two Maximals regarded each other for a minute, then, in
unison:
"RHINOX!"

* * *

"Hey, Big Bot?" Cheetor suddenly looked up from the
sensors he
was manning. "I'm getting some sort of homing beacon. I think we have a
pod
down in Grid Omega."

Optimus quickly punched the holo-map up on the central
table.
"Omega,
huh? That's close to Predacon territory- not to mention practically in
the
other direction from Airrazor and Tigatron. We're going to need fliers
to get
out there." Cocking his head, Optimus quickly made a decision.
"Cheetor, get
Rhinox on the horn and have him stand by. We may need his help if the
pod is
damaged. Rodimus, you come with me. I could use the back-up."

"Right. Besides, if you left me here, the computer would
probably
blow up again."

"Just- stay a good twenty feet away from the pod, all
right?"
Optimus
asked. His tone was pained, but he was grinning.

"You got it." The two Maximals quickly headed down the lift,
leaving
Cheetor at the computer. He felt a brief flare of anxiety about not
going with
them, but quickly shook it off. It was his turn for sensor watch, after
all. He
couldn't just drop everything and go gallivanting off. After all,
somebody had
to watch Optimus' back.

By the time Rhinox had made it up to the bridge, Optimus was
calling
in their approach to the pod. "I see it," the Maximal leader informed
them.
"I'm heading in."

"Roger that," Cheetor sent back. "We're watching your back,
Big
Bot."

"Appreciate it." There were a few moments of silence, then
the
pinger
on the pod suddenly blinked out. Cheetor and Rhinox exchanged glances.

Suddenly the com crackled to life again. "Slag," Optimus
sent. "The
pod's empty. Guess whoever was in it came on-line already."

"Optimus?" Rodimus broke in. "This pod's been empty for a
while.
There's no trace of stasis fluid, or any of the things that a newly
born
protoform leaves behind. I think we may have walked into a-"

"TRAP!" Cheetor yelped, seeing Predacon signatures suddenly
appear
all around the two Maximal blips on his screen.

"Took the words right out of my mouth, kiddo," Rodimus
hollered
back,
over the gunfire that had suddenly roared over the channel. "They're
coming
from EVERYWHERE!"

Optimus took up the narrative. "We are seriously outnumbered
and
pinned down!"

Leaping to his feet, Cheetor was halfway to the lift before
he
remembered Rhinox. The larger Maximal was already seated at the
console, typing
furiously. "Go on!" the green robot ordered tersely. "I'll get hold of-
whoever
I can."

"Right." Jumping down the lift, Cheetor quickly converted to
Beast
Mode and rocketed off. With his jets burning at their absolute highest
speed,
it didn't take him long to reach the battlefield in Grid Omega. Not far
ahead
of him, he could see Waspinator and Inferno raining fire down upon the
two
Maximals below.

"Screwball, corner pocket!" Cheetor yelled, careening into
Waspinator
as he did so. The Predacon wasp had just enough time for a scream
before his
path intersected with Inferno's propeller butt, knocking both 'bots out
of the
sky. Their inertia then carried the two directly into Quickstrike, and
the
resulting ball of Predacons then hit a rock wall, off-lining all three.
Grinning slightly to himself, Cheetor touched down, Maximizing as he
did so.

Suddenly one of Megatron's fusion shots struck Optimus
directly in
the torso, knocking the Maximal leader off his feet. Rod and Cheetor
cried in
unison, "OPTIMUS!" A blast of Rodimus' flame cannon was enough to knock
the
Predacon leader backwards. Clutching his chest, Megatron got to his
feet.

"Predacons, RETREAT!" he bellowed. Tarantulas and Black
Arachnia
quickly followed their leader, leaving their three unconscious
companions
behind. Neither Cheetor nor Rodimus noticed this, however, being far
too
concerned with their leader.

"We've got to get him back to the CR chamber," Rodimus said
urgently,
noting how close the blast had come to Optimus' Spark chamber. "We'll
sling him
over your back, okay?"

Nodding, Cheetor quickly returned to Beast Mode. "Just DO it
and
let's get going!" Loading Optimus onto Cheetor, the two rocketed off
towards
the Axalon.

* * *

"What's the prognosis, Rhinox?" Rodimus said
urgently, being
careful to stay far away from any of the equipment.

The rhinoceros sighed. "Too soon to say. You got him here in
time to
keep him from off-lining- now it's just a question of whether his Spark
can
withstand the repair trauma. Good thing you were there, Rodimus. If you
hadn't
shot Megatron off that rock, he probably would have finished what he
started."

"Yeah, well, don't thank me until this is done, all right?"

Cheetor had been listening to all of this from the back, and
he hung
his head in realization. I failed him. If it had been up to me,
Megatron
would have killed him. He needs me hanging around like a hole in the
head.
Rodimus can take care of him-- I'm just a liability. With that
thought,
Cheetor strode over to the lift, banging his fist on the control that
would
open it. The noise caused Rodimus and Rhinox to look up in surprise.

"Cheetor? Where are you going?" Rhinox asked.

"Out." Cheetor replied flatly. Then he headed down the lift
and was
gone.

Rhinox groaned. "Slag. Just what we DON'T need right now.
Rodimus,
can you put a trace on his energy signature?"

"Already on it, Rhinox," the phoenix assured him. "I
wouldn't bother
him right now, though. The kid needs to blow off steam."

"I guess you're right," Rhinox sighed. "But I've got a bad
feeling
that things are about to go from bad to worse."

"Rhinox, things are already worse."

* * *

Cheetor had no idea where he was headed, and he
didn't much
care. At this point, he would have welcomed flying into an energy
storm.
Anything to get rid of the guilt and anger he felt. In his current
state, he'd
even welcome being struck by lightning.

His blind flight was suddenly interrupted by gunfire from
the ground
below. Turning to avoid a particularly large blast of energy, he looked
down to
see four Predacons below.

Hmm... Megs, Tarantulas, Black Arachnia, and--
Waspinator? But
that's impossible-- he was worse banged up than Inferno and
Quickstrike, and
not one of them should have been able to regenerate that fast. But
Waspinator was definitely there, and Cheetor was going to have to worry
about
him. A feral grin crossed the young cheetah's features.

This could be more fun than an energon storm, he
mused.
"Cheetor, MAXIMIZE!" No sooner had he transformed than he was struck by
one of
Megatron's fusion bursts. Tumbling to the rocky ground, he struck hard
and lay
there, stunned. Hearing footsteps he managed to slew his head around
enough to
see Megatron standing over him, smiling pleasantly. Cheetor felt
nauseated, but
he couldn't tell whether that was from the crash, or Megatron's
expression.

"Fancy meeting you here," the Predacon leader smiled.
Cheetor made a
rude noise.

"Look, Megatron, if you're going to shoot me, just go ahead
and do
it. I have a killer headache."

Feigning shock, Megatron waved a hand in denial. "Shoot you,
Maximal?
Oh, no, no, no. No, I have other plans for you. Um, Tarantulas, Black
Arachnia.
Escort our young friend into the... lab that Tarantulas has prepared,
would
you? He's about to have a... mind-changing experience."

Cheetor's eyes widened as the spiders hauled him to his
feet. He
knew
quite well what Megatron was getting at, and he had no desire to have
Tarantulas wading merrily through his datatrax. "It won't work,
Megatron. The
Maximals will know there's something wrong with me."

"My dear boy, I believe Optimus Primal will be far too glad
to see
you safe to even notice the... eccentricities in your behavior. Not
that he
will have time to do so in any case. Tarantulas?"

The two spiders dragged Cheetor off, the young Maximal
struggling
feebly and calling Megatron every unpleasant name he had ever heard,
including
a few pieces of Predacon gutter slang picked up from Dinobot. Megatron
chuckled.

"An engaging young man. Perhaps I shall keep him around when
this
little game is over, hmm?" Looking at the sky, he smiled. "Now, all
there is to
do is wait."

Optimus Primal had never considered himself to have psychic
powers.
He had, however, developed the ability to read the faces of his command
to an
unusual degree. For that reason, when the door to the CR chamber swung
open, he
had the sudden undeniable sensation of impending doom.

"Cheetor's gone missing. He zoomed out of here right after
bringing
you in, and we kept a trace on him, but-"

"It just disappeared," Rodimus replied, from his seat at the
sensor
watch. "We've been trying to find it for five minutes, but no luck."

Optimus frowned. "Slag." Taking a step forward, he wobbled
and
nearly
fell as his knees turned to water. A clawed hand shot out, grabbing his
arm and
preventing him from crashing to the floor.

"Sit down," Dinobot suggested. "Despite the R chamber's
repairs, you
are still not at one-hundred percent."

"I'm aware of that," replied Optimus wryly. "Is it possible
Cheetor
turned off his signal, to keep us from finding him?"

Rodimus shook his head. "Possible, but not likely. It's not
an easy
thing to do, and I don't think he intended to worry any of us. No, I'm
pretty
sure he's in trouble."

"Great." Optimus studied the screens, his optics shadowed.
"And
since
Megatron seems to have developed some type of signal damper, he could
be right
under our noses, and we'd never know it."

"Maybe," Rhinox replied. "But the Predacons had to drop
their cloak
to attack you. I'd imagine that much moving around would have rendered
it
unstable anyway. If any of them change position, we'll know about it."

As if in response to Rhinox's words, a red Maximal symbol
began
flashing on the screen. "Cheetor?" Optimus asked, leaning on Rodimus'
shoulder
to better scrutinize the reading.

"That's a big 10-4, big guy," Rod replied. "He's not moving-
the
reading appears to be coming from a cave in the hills there."

From the back of the room, Rattrap suddenly piped up. "Is it
me, or
does this have "Trap" written ALL over it, in big shiny red letters?"

Halfway down, the door was stopped by a red metal hand.
Sliding the
door back into the "up" position, Rodimus favored Optimus with a grin.
"Not so
fast, Chief. You'll need back-up." Without turning his head, the
phoenix called
over his shoulder, "Right, Dinobot?" He was answered by a snarl, but a
resigned
one. Rod's grin widened.

"So, boss, what's the game plan?"

The cave that Cheetor's signal was emanating from had its
entrance in
a small, grassy valley. Nothing moved as Optimus Primal touched down,
but the
Maximal leader could feel an itch between his shoulder blades that told
him he
was being watched. Carefully, he forced himself not to look around.
Megatron
would know that his trap had been anticipated, but he was more than
likely to
assume that Optimus would come alone. That WOULD have been his choice,
if
Rodimus hadn't interfered, and Optimus doubted that Megatron had known
Rodimus
long enough to factor the phoenix' stubbornness into his calculations.
So as
long as Optimus kept the watchers focused on him, they would be less
likely to
see his troop as they closed in from the sides.

Slowly, deliberately, Optimus made his way to the mouth of
the cave,
every minute expecting a hail of gunfire. None came, however, which
only made
him more nervous. Megatron obviously wanted him to enter the cave,
which meant
that there was something highly unpleasant inside. Gun at the ready,
Optimus
cautiously crept into the darkness.

He had only gone a little way when an area lighted by
Tarantulas'
glowbugs caught his eye. Turning, he saw Cheetor slumped up against a
rock,
obviously the worse for wear. "Cheetor!" he called quietly, taking a
step
towards the damaged Maximal. Cheetor's head slowly lifted, and his
green eyes
locked with Optimus' with agonizing slowness.

"Optimus," Cheetor greeted him flatly. Painfully, the
cheetah got to
his feet- then pointed his gun-hands at Optimus. The Maximal leader
stopped in
his tracks.

"What's going on here?" Optimus demanded.

"Allow me to explain," a voice said smoothly. Primal turned
towards
the speaker slowly, knowing who he would see.

"Your young friend has had a change of heart," Megatron
explained,
moving into the light. He favored Primal with a sickeningly pleasant
smile, one
that Optimus didn't bother to return. "It's quite simple, actually. You
have MY
protégé- so I'll take yours."

Optimus snorted. "Dinobot would make you eat that fusion
cannon
if he
heard you call him that."

"Yes, well, that's neither here nor there. What IS important
is that
you are about to be destroyed, by the one person no one would ever
suspect. As
my namesake would say, "How ironic."" All of the jovial humor left
Megatron's
face then. "You escaped death once, Optimus Primal. I do not intend
that you do
so again."

From behind Megatron, Cheetor's voice suddenly rang out,
flat and
threatening. "Don't bet on it, Barney." Before Megatron could turn,
three laser
blasts rang out, pitching the Predacon leader into one of the walls of
the
cavern. A rain of rocks then put him out for the count.

"Uhh..." Cheetor slumped as his exertions caught up to him.
He would
have fallen completely, but Optimus was there, supporting him.

"Good to have you back- or maybe never gone," Primal
remarked, warm
humor lurking in his voice.

Cheetor relaxed against his leader, too tired to stand- or
even do
much thinking. "You shouldn't have come," he complained sleepily. "Too
dangerous."

"You'd have done the same for me," Optimus replied, slipping
Cheetor's arm around his neck.

"Yeah, but-- you're worth it."

Optimus raised his eyebrows at Cheetor's reply, but said
nothing.
Instead, he gently steered the younger Maximal to the opening of the
cave. They
were far from out of the woods yet. Halfway to the cave mouth, Optimus
felt his
foot brush against something lying in the shadows. Looking down, he saw
Tarantulas, off-lined and still, except for the occasional twitch.

"What happened to him?"

Cheetor smiled, but there was a feral edge to it. "He
decided to
take
a joyride through my head. I don't think he liked what he found there."

"Impressive."

"I'll tell Tigatron you said so."

With that, the two of them continued their trek towards the
door.

Cheetor winced as bright sunlight stabbed into his eyes.
Raising a
hand to shade his vision, he blinked suddenly as an energy bolt
resolved in
front of his eyes. Luckily for Cheetor, Optimus had seen it too, and
his
reactions were considerably faster. Grabbing the younger Maximal around
the
waist, Optimus pulled him behind a small rock outcropping, the only
cover in
the entire valley.

Insane laughter echoed from the hills, causing Cheetor to
pull a
face. "Guess Inferno and Quickstrike are back in the land of the
living..." he
murmured. From the dents on his metal skin and the dreamy, disconnected
quality
in his voice, it was obvious that the younger 'bot was in no condition
to make
a run for it.

"And if I tried to carry him, I'd be shot out of the sky,"
Optimus
mused.

"Funny," a voice drawled from behind the ant. "That's pretty
much
what I was going to say to YOU!" Inferno attempted to turn, but only
made it
halfway around before Rodimus' flame blast hit him square in the
thorax,
sending him tumbling backwards. "I'm the only pyro around here- wait,
that
didn't come out right." Shrugging, Rodimus threw himself towards the
recovering
Predacon.

Meanwhile, the sound of metal on metal, not to mention a lot
of
cursing, indicated that Silverbolt was kicking Quickstrike around
without much
problem. The cowboy Fuzor hadn't managed to land a shot. Not too far
away,
Dinobot had finally managed to knock Waspinator out of the sky via
eyebeams,
and had now turned his attention to Rodimus and Inferno.

Rattrap snorted. "That'll be the day!" Popping up from
behind a
rock,
he snapped off three quick shots, forcing the widow to dodge.

A roar of rage from the cavern indicated that Megatron had
recovered
from the little nap Cheetor had sent him to. Calculating the odds,
Optimus
winced. This was NOT good.

"Silverbolt! Drop Quickstrike and get over here!" the
Maximal leader
cried. As the wolf/eagle responded, Optimus thought he heard
Quickstrike
drunkenly mutter something about a semi-truck, but dismissed it.
"Silverbolt, I
need you to get Cheetor out of here. He needs a CR chamber, yesterday.
Don't
worry about ground fire, I think we've got it covered."

Silverbolt looked around, taking in the rapid whipping the
Preds
were
receiving, and nodded. "I believe you're right." Taking the unconscious
Cheetor
in his arms, Silverbolt quickly winged off towards the Axalon.

At that moment, Megatron emerged from the cavern, fusion
cannon
charged and ready. As his optics adjusted to the sudden light, the
first thing
he saw was one of Optimus Primal's fists headed for his face.

Megatron reeled back from the punch, attempting to regroup.
That was
a mistake. The instant he gave ground, Optimus was following him,
landing
strike after strike. Megatron managed to parry some of the blows, but
Optimus
was unstoppable. Then the Maximal suddenly reached in and grabbed his
opponent
by the throat, pulling Megatron down so that they were face to face.

"If you want me, Megatron, you've GOT me. But if you ever
try to use
one of my troops as a pawn again, I will PERSONALLY take that tail of
yours and
stuff it down your throat. Are we clear?"

The Predacon leader coughed weakly. "Crystal, I assure you."

Despite Megatron's assent, Optimus seemed reluctant to let
go of his
adversary's throat. A hand fell on his shoulder, alerting him to
Rodimus'
presence.

"Let him go, Optimus. His troops are decorating the
landscape right
now, and I'm pretty sure he knows when he's beaten. Besides, you have
more
important business to attend to."

"You're right," Optimus nodded. "I do." With a shove, he
released his
grip on Megatron's throat, sending the T-rex toppling onto his behind.
Then,
without so much as a look back, he transformed and jetted off towards
the
Axalon, the other Maximals close behind him.

Levering himself to his feet, Megatron looked around at the
unconscious forms (and in Waspinator's case, scattered wreckage) that
comprised
his troops. Shaking his head, he began the somewhat laborious process
of
reassembling his command.

* * *

The sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon
when
Rodimus emerged onto the roof of the Axalon. "Feeling better?" he asked
casually, dropping down to sit next to Cheetor. The younger 'bot didn't
take
his eyes off the western sky, but shrugged.

"Nothing hurts anymore. The CR chamber fixed me up as usual.
I spend
so much time in there, I'm thinking maybe I should move in."

"That's not what I asked. Look, Cheetor, I've known you
maybe a week
and a half, and I can tell something's eating at you. Optimus and
Rhinox are
practically worried sick. And the way you went stomping out of here
today--
come on, kid, spill it. If you don't, I guarantee it's going to keep at
you."

Cheetor snorted. "So I should talk to you?"

"Sometimes it's easier to say things to people you don't
know so
well. You don't have to worry so much about what they'll think of you."

For a long moment, Cheetor simply stared at the sinking sun.
Then he
burst out with, "It's all my fault!"

"What is?"

"What happened today, and- what happened to Optimus. I
wasn't there
for him-- I'm NEVER there for him. I should have been the one flying
that pod.
It should have been me."

Rodimus was quiet for a second. "I don't know about that. I
DO know
that Optimus would never have let you go, flier or not. He wasn't about
to let
anyone endanger themselves on that mission. Besides that, if he had
lost you- I
think it would have torn him up worse than anything.

"It's not a pleasant realization, but in the end, you have
to
understand that you can't always protect the people you care about. You
do the
best you can, and the rest is up to Fate- and your friends. It's called
growing
up, and it's not always a lot of fun. Happens to everybody sooner or
later,
though."

"Not soon enough in my case," Cheetor grumbled quietly. "If
I hadn't
gone tearing out of here today, none of this would have happened."

"You were hurting. Despite what you might think, nobody has
immunity
to mistakes. You've just got to learn from them. Besides, Megatron had
today
planned out quite well. He knew about the bond you and Optimus have,
and he's
probably been planning to use it for some time. If you hadn't gone out
today,
he would have grabbed you when you were on patrol, or something. If
that had
happened, we wouldn't have been tracking you like we were today. So
maybe this
was for the best."

"But if it hadn't been for me, Optimus wouldn't have been in
danger!"

"No, he wouldn't have. He cares about you a lot, Cheetor,
and that's
always going to be something guys like Megatron will try to use to
their
advantage. But you'd better get used to it, because there is nothing
between
here and the Matrix that would ever change the way he feels about you.
In a
way, you're lucky. So few people ever really experience a connection
like
that."

The sound of footsteps on the metal hull of the ship caused
both
'bots to turn. Optimus Primal stood behind them, shielding his eyes
with one
hand, although there was little glare left from the rapidly descending
sun.
"Rodimus? If you two are done here, Rhinox wants to see you. Something
about
one of the sensor consoles?"

Rod pulled a face, scrambling to his feet. "I didn't do it,
I
swear!"
he protested, causing Cheetor to laugh at his overacted trepidation.

"Then go explain that to Rhinox," replied Optimus, a smile
on his
face. With a small noise, Rodimus did as he was told, leaving Optimus
and
Cheetor alone.

Wincing slightly, Optimus sank down next to Cheetor, facing
out
towards the west. "Did you two have a good talk?"

"Yeah," Cheetor nodded. "He can be a goof, but he's not a
dumb
guy by
any means."

"Good. I've been- somewhat preoccupied recently, and I
haven't had a
chance to talk about what's been bothering you."

Cheetor grinned. "Nothing's bothering me, Big Bot. Not
anymore." As
the sun finally disappeared beneath the horizon, there was a flash of
brilliant
green, just before the light left completely. Optimus and Cheetor were
left
silent in awe.

"Whoa. That was intense," Cheetor breathed. Optimus nodded
in
agreement.

"A green flash. I've read about them, but I've never seen
one
before.
They're extremely rare."

"Cool." Above them, the stars were beginning to peek through
the
blue
of the sky. Leaning back to lie on the ship, Cheetor stared upwards.
"Hey,
Optimus? You're into astronomy, right? Can you tell me what some of
these
constellations are?"

Optimus reclined as well, looking up into the darkening
blue. "Well,
those over there are-- or actually, will be Cancer, the crab. And that
one
there is Polaris. By the time the Ark activates, it'll be the North
Star."

"It's not the North Star now?"

"No, the closest one would be that over there, Alpha
Draconis.
And if
you look over there, you can see part of Leo, the lion."

"Any cheetahs?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Bummer."

Optimus had to laugh at that. For the rest of the evening,
the
two of
them sat out under a summer sky, exploring the beauties of the universe
together.